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Bettesworth Construction
cauls

Here’s a Simple Trick for Clamping Acute-Angle Glue-Ups

A cloth-backed abrasive strip wrapped around spring-clamp tips can help them grip an acute-angle glue-up. Here’s how to fit the wrap and when to use another clamping method.

By Bettesworth Construction Team 2 min read
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When a spring clamp keeps slipping off an acute-angle glue-up, wrap its tips with cloth-backed abrasive. The rough outer surface helps the clamp grip; it doesn’t change the joint or the shape of the workpiece.

Wrap cloth-backed abrasive around the clamp tips

WOOD Magazine published this tip on December 9, 2016, crediting the idea to Erv Roberts of Des Moines, Iowa. Roberts described guessing where a spring clamp would fly when it popped off an acute-angle glue-up, then found he could get better clamping by wrapping cloth-backed abrasive around the clamp tips. That is his shop experience, not a controlled test.

  1. Remove a resilient cover from one spring-clamp tip.

  2. Fold one end of a strip of cloth-backed abrasive over the tip, with the abrasive side facing the clamp.

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  3. Replace the tip cover to hold that end in place.

  4. Fold the strip back around the clamp tip so the rough side faces outward.

  5. Tape the free end snugly so the wrap stays tight.

The source does not specify an abrasive grit, strip width, clamp model, workable angle range, or measured improvement. Use the method as a simple grip modification, not as a quantified performance guarantee. WOOD Magazine’s original tip shows the approach.

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When another glue-up method may fit better

The abrasive wrap addresses a spring clamp that slips from a sharp-angle glue-up. For a joint that is unusually shaped, needs pressure delivered at a particular angle, or risks being marked by a clamp, consider a caul or another approach suited to the workpiece. Charles Mak’s Lee Valley overview of oddball glue-ups describes several options:

  • Handscrews as cauls: Their adjustable jaws can help position clamping pressure in unusual orientations.

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  • Angled offcuts or wedges: Scrap shaped to suit the joint can act as a caul and may be held with CA glue or double-faced tape.

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  • Custom-shaped cauls: A caul shaped to match an irregular profile can distribute pressure where a standard clamp cannot.

These are alternatives for different glue-up problems, not extra steps needed for Roberts’s abrasive-wrap trick.

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Don’t confuse clamping with cutting acute angles

A jig for cutting acute angles on a miter saw solves a separate problem. Houseful of Handmade’s acute-angle jig tutorial covers cutting stock between 45 and 90 degrees and calls for clamping both the jig and the workpiece. That setup is not a substitute clamp for holding a glue-up together.

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